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Narration Standards

The following standards apply when narrating stories at a game event. Narrators found to violate these standards may lose their license to narrate or face disciplinary action at ownership's discretion.

Only run approved content. Random monsters, simple encounters, and narrator-only follow-ups to prior approved content are generally permissible on the fly, but all other stories must be written and approved by an editor before being run in play.

Use monsters in line with the party level. For scheduled content, the list of party members in attendance and their average level is printed at the top of the story. Unless the monster-to-player ratio is very low (less than 2-to-3), average monster levels should be roughly equal to the average party level. Small adjustments may be made for extenuating circumstances. For instance, you might decrease the average monster level by 1 or 2 if the party has little healing ability or the monster-to-player ratio is very high (more than 3-to-4). Epic monsters are meant to challenge a party alone and should also be roughly equal to the average party level, or less if they have minions or other mechanics that make the fight more difficult.

Only tell monsters what they need to know. Monsters have a lot to memorize in a short time, and prepping them with all the details of the story is usually unnecessary. Tell them only what they need to know, like the sequence of licenses they'll use, roleplaying guidance, and important cues to listen for.

Be aware of the time. Sometimes, preparing to run a story takes longer than expected or the content goes slower or faster than expected. Keep an eye on the clock and adjust pacing as necessary, possibly adding or removing a scene. For adventures, the goal is to run an hour of content within a two-hour window. For field battles, it's two hours of content within a four-hour window.